Restoration of Nicaraguan cathedral damaged by earthquake set to begin

Managua, Nicaragua, Jun 2, 2004 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The President of Nicaragua, Enrique Bolanos, announced during a trip to Mexico that he has received the blueprints for the restoration of the historic Cathedral of Managua, which was seriously damaged in an earthquake in 1972.

President Bolanos indicated that the funds for the restoration will come from the governments of France, Spain and Mexico, which have split the costs of the work, totaling more than six million dollars. Nicaragua will contribute one million dollars to the project.

The idea for restoring the historic Cathedral arose when President Vicente Fox of Mexico visited Nicaragua in March and said he would ask the United Nations to declare the ruins of the Cathedral part of the humanity’s patrimony.